


Late Playdates

by its_mike_kapufty



Series: AU Biscuits [5]
Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Co-workers, Don't copy to another site, Fluff, Goobers being Goobers, Light Angst, M/M, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-09
Updated: 2020-01-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:34:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22189477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/its_mike_kapufty/pseuds/its_mike_kapufty
Summary: The toy store Rhett works for hires a new guy and assigns them closing shift together.
Relationships: Rhett McLaughlin/Link Neal
Series: AU Biscuits [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1399561
Comments: 48
Kudos: 90





	Late Playdates

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you, [V](https://mythicalpurgatory.tumblr.com/), for inadvertently planting this idea in my brain and then letting me post it. 😂💕 (sorry not sorry, it's cute okay)
> 
> Thank you [Bellamy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/analog08/pseuds/analog08) for the beta!

There’s an introduction (of sorts) that Link can’t shake from his pre-sleep reel of embarrassment—the tall, name-tagged stranger held such veteraned dominion over his newly-partnered position that all Link had offered was a rushed, “Hi, hey, how’re you? Hello.” 

Three greetings too many, and that had set the tone for working in awkward silence.

But camaraderie is a funny, malleable thing; folks can go from closing up shop together quietly day after day—entrenched in minimum wage and too scared to test the waters of personality—when something as innocuous as a stuffed octopus posed to look like it’s throwing down a diss track suffices to shatter the norm with incredulous chuckles.

Rhett thumbs at the purposeful plush on the shelf, sure he’d already tidied here, and he catches the last moments of Link’s smirk when he looks over at him. 

“Did you do this...?”

“Nah, man. He’s just sassy. Let him live.”

Minutes later on his walk-through, Link finds a cotton cat sitting with its legs crossed and paws on its hips.

“Looks like it should have a cigarette,” Link chuckles at Rhett’s design choice, and it’s nice when Rhett chuckles with him. 

Days pass faster after that, and their stuffed animal escapades only grow more crass—but it leaves them open to something less guarded than _hi, hey, how’re you, hello._

* * *

There’s no shortage of messes to clean after full days of children destroying demos, though some tasks are worse than others: like the time Rhett finds an explosion of Legos at the play table. He sighs heavy, ‘cause it’s getting late and his back hurts, but he kneels and starts cleaning the unruly scattering by hand. 

He doesn’t look up when his shift partner finds him, feet in his periphery. It must take a few moments of steeling himself for such a chore, but eventually Link crouches to help (thank goodness). Not two minutes later, Link’s built a little crappy mismatched airplane that keeps falling apart in his long fingers.

And it's dumb and Rhett's exhausted and grumpy, but as Link flies the plane to bump into Rhett’s nose, it’s _impossible_ not to let that lift his heart. Tension and ire forgotten, Rhett builds a little horse out of the blocks while they remain quiet, clicking pieces and playing like shy schoolboys. 

Before he knows it, they've stayed two hours past closing and Rhett’s forgotten about his back pain.

Not that it means anything—and he does so discreetly—but he takes home Link’s shoddy little plane and keeps it on his dresser. Some glue would keep it from falling apart, but its candidness is part of its charm.

* * *

Where corporate demands they remain deferent, they learn to be themselves together once the customers are shooed and closing playlist rolls. Link never thought he would grow to love Semisonic.

Teasing and pranks come naturally.

Link cleans up a shelf one night, yet things keep tumbling back to the floor, over and over. And he's exasperated and considering telling management about a customer safety hazard when he sees a shadow glide over the back of the row. 

Rhett is on the other side, pushing toys off. 

With a wicked grin, Link throws down the tiara he's holding and storms over with a barely-contained cackle. 

“You!”

Found out, Rhett squawks a little noise of surprise and starts laughing, backing away from his punishment, but Link rushes over and play-hits him a few times on the arm. The smacks are gentle and don’t hold any real threat of harm, but Rhett nevertheless grabs and holds Link's wrists to stop him. It flusters Link more than it should.

It flusters them _both_ more than it should, and they independently think about that fleeting point of contact for days to come, neither letting on.

* * *

It’s hard to say where they stand, after that. They’re coworkers, is all Link can say definitively.

But then Rhett mentions off-hand on a slow shift, “Man, I wish we could take our breaks together,” and what does that mean? What does he think will happen—would Rhett ask to share Link’s vending machine snack, or vent to him about customers, or would it be solely because it’s _Link_ he’d be spending time with, away from the job and that’s the appeal...?

Maybe it wouldn’t be out of line to ask him somewhere.

A new superhero movie comes out with a line of toys, and right before closing one night they hear one parent telling another that it's actually a really good film. There’s an opportunity.

Link tries to be cool about it. "If it's so good, maybe we should go see it," he suggests, but Rhett just snorts. 

"I don't wanna see things that remind me of work outside of work, man."

And that’s that.

* * *

Link must have misread their... _friendship_ , if that's even what this is. 

A few unusually quiet closers later, he casually confesses, "I've... been thinkin’ of switching to opening shift."

And Rhett stops arranging the Melissa & Doug toys and stares at him, ‘til his eyes fall slowly to the floor in thought. 

Link can only stand the silence for so long. He ahems, "What do you think?"

"I don't want ya to," Rhett states, quickly returning his burning attention to the toys. "Like closing with you. You make work fun."

"Yep... work," Link hums. Is this really the only place that his company is worth anything? To lessen the blow of a capitalist rat race? Sighing, he organizes slime kits, half-assing it for once.

Rhett hesitates, then holds up one of the thick wooden puzzles. "D'you ever play with these as a kid?"

"Not really."

"Well I did. I had a ton of them."

"Cool."

"What was your toy?"

Link mulls it over and chews his cheek. "I really liked Cabbage Patch dolls. Weird, I know."

"Not that weird. Toys are toys," Rhett says, like they don't have to give that spiel to parents panicking over gender boundaries at least once a day.

"And coworkers are coworkers," Link mutters. It’s meant to be under his breath, but based on the way Rhett pauses and side-eyes him, it might not have been.

* * *

The next night, Link is finishing up the very last duties, reporting damages in the office and returning case keys to rungs. His shift change request slumbers in his back pocket, waiting just another few minutes before Link can slip it into their manager's mailbox. 

Rhett sidles into the office and simply stands there, quiet. 

"I'm almost done," Link mutters, but when he glances up at him, he notes that Rhett seems a bit... flustered. Out of breath. "Uhh. Are you—"

"Don't switch to mornings," Rhett presses, wringing his hands at the hem of his shirt. His face is turning pink, and Link blinks up at him stupidly.

"What...?"

"Please don't change shifts. I really like spending time with you. I'm—I didn't mean _you_ , the other day—when I said seein’ work stuff outside of work wasn't my thing. You aren't a ‘work thing’," Rhett babbles to explain, fumbling his words, "But... I like it when you are."

Link presses his lips thin and feels the very real burn on his cheeks. Taps his pen on the desk. "O-Okay. I won't switch, Rhett."

Rhett hedges in the doorway. "Yeah?"

"Yeah,” Link nods at his paperwork. “I... I kinda thought you didn't like me, is all," he breathes, and Rhett inflates with indignation.

"I really like you. You make this kinda job... you make this kinda _life_ easier to swallow," he mutters.

And honestly that's kinda funny, 'cause that's exactly how Link had come to feel about Rhett.

The shift change slip gets ripped up, and things go back to the way they were. 

* * *

When a new shipment of skateboards arrives, of course Rhett has to be a show-off and ride one that some misbehaving kid had opened. He makes it down two aisles—whooping and hollering to an eye-rolling Link—before the skateboard promptly flies out from beneath him, sending him crashing into a display of Webkinz and dousing the grown man in tiny bulbous-eyed unicorns and penguins. Link rushes to his side and finds Rhett wearing a similar expression to the teeny bird nestled in his hair. 

He’d meant to ask if Rhett is okay. Instead, he dissolves into laughter. 

Link kneels, one hand steadying on Rhett's thigh as he tries to catch his breath. Rhett's shock bubbles into humbled chuckles, and the weakly vengeful punch he gives Link’s arm turns into a gentle rub before he knows what he's doing.

The next day, Link comes in early and buys the bird Webkin to keep on his dresser at home.

* * *

It’s at the start of some inconsequential Tuesday shift that Rhett insists, "You gotta come with me to my car after we close up."

"We goin’ somewhere?" Link asks with a half smile, and Rhett simply beams and sings, "You'll see," before floating off to help customers.

The evening passes entirely too slowly, and all the while Link itches to get off work. The chance to do _anything_ new with Rhett is a thrilling prospect, no matter where they're going, so it’s a special kind of torture to endure the same old inane questions: _do you have Razor scooters, when is the new Monster High doll arriving, can we take this out of the box just to test it out before we buy?_ With the store so busy and one mess after another, Link can’t even grill Rhett edgewise about what awaits him once they’re done.

Finally the doors are locked and they're in the parking lot. Link is the excited one, skipping along and hoping he won't need his key cars for another hour or two. Firsts await, after all.

Rhett is grins all over as he steps to his car and holds a finger up. "One sec." He ducks into the passenger seat and Link envisions him clearing off the seat, making room for Link’s company.

But when Rhett stands, he's holding something in both hands, illuminated only by streetlight. He proffers it to Link. "Tah-dah!"

It's... a Cabbage Patch doll.

Link gawks, the smile ebbing from his face as he takes it in: the ratty and somewhat-stained cloth, the humble button eyes, the unraveling yarn hair. 

"What?" he huffs, laughing and taking it with careful fingers. "Why do you have this?"

"It's for you," Rhett says happily, and Link snaps his gaze up to him, mouth running dry.

"...For me?"

"Yeah. Surprise!"

"We don't sell this edition," Link notes, turning it over in his hands. It's old, that's for sure.

"Bought it on Ebay. It's one from the year you were born."

"Rhett," Link whispers. There's a strange lump in his throat, but it's not one of sadness or guilt. It's hot and alive, and it can't be swallowed down. "We work in a toy store, and you paid a bundle more just to get me an antique one instead...?"

"I told ya," Rhett leans back against his car, sliding his hands into his pockets. "Ain't about the store. We're more than where we see each other every day, man. I just... thought you'd like it."

There's too much to say, and none of it can find a way around the lump in Link's throat. He holds the doll to his chest gingerly, meets Rhett's eyes and wishes he could put into words what it means, or how he could even begin to ask if the same feelings are behind giving it as are behind receiving it.

Rhett just smiles. 

He straightens and pulls his hands free, uses them to smooth wrinkles from his tee. And the way his actions slide together—from numb-fingered pleasantries of appearance to rushing forward and catching Link's face and colliding their warm lips, chapped on smooth—it's nothing to everything all at once. 

Link surrenders the doll to the pavement to take what he can, only feeling a bit bad that the worn and torn will see a bit more wear and tear while he and Rhett explore each other's neglected desire above it in a dim summer parking lot.

Link didn't need his car keys at all that night.

**Author's Note:**

> Typical “I didn’t know how to include these” AU Biscuit details:  
> >Rhett trying on a funny hat from a rack and two days later, Link washing his hair with medicated shampoo and giving him shit for being a thirty year old with lice.  
> >Them getting hot and heavy in a supply closet and Rhett jokingly covering a Furby's eyes. Link cackles so hard he has to stop thrusting.  
> >Them racing Hot Wheels on a track. Just... that's it, how cute is that  
> >Link finding one of Rhett's closets at home just absolutely full of stuffed animals. When he asks Rhett, he learns that Rhett normally sleeps with them but is too embarrassed to with Link. Link is like "fuck that" and helps Rhett build a mountain of them on his bed for them to snooze in.


End file.
